


Trouble

by BubblegumCat



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Angst, Drug Use, F/M, M/M, Maybe fluff, also cake is a human in this, but he comes around, but they come around, emo marshall lee, fionna has a few issues with her dad, flame prince is called kai in this, hella popular fionna, marshall is abit of an asshole, probably smut later, punk flame prince, rave stuff, theyre both moody punks basically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-04-15 13:50:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4609116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubblegumCat/pseuds/BubblegumCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fionna is pretty popular at her high school - she's quite good at running, plays the clarinet in the school band, and she definitely doesn't take shit from anyone while somehow managing to come across as really likeable. In other words, she's perfect bait for a certain bet between two of the misfit punk boys who want to dismantle the system one annoyingly preppy popular person at a time, dragging in another preppy popular kid Prince Gumball. But maybe it won't work out exactly as they think it will.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Little Harmless Fun

The first day back at school always sucks. Always. No two ways about it. I'm exhausted and I couldn't get my hair quite right (having a mohican is a pain in the ass sometimes) and I'm just really not in the mood for this bullshit. I'm not sure how late I am, but it must be pretty bad, because even Marshall Lee isn't in his usual spot leaning against the wall outside. Nevertheless, I saunter through the car park at my own pace and into a side door, deciding I probably shouldn't miss the first lesson of the year. 

I slip into algebra class. Luckily Mr Jones has his back turned, writing some ridiculously long and complicated formula on the board, and the door is at the back of the classroom anyway. I spot Marshall spread eagled across his desk at the very back of the room, his long skinny legs stretched about as wide as they can get, taking up an entire double desk. Not that anyone would sit next to him except me. We aren't the most popular pair in the school. Thank fuck. 

I slide into the chair next to him and give him a jab in the ribs. He jerks up, dark hair all over the place and in his eyes, and looks like as if he's about the claw my throat out until he realises its me and his face breaks out in a massive grin. "Hey man, where the fuck you been at?" I just give him a wink and he rolls his eyes. "Stop taking the piss, I know you just slept in." I just wiggle my eyebrows at him, giving him another shove as he shakes his head. I stretch out, settling in for what's looking like a long lesson of boring pointless formulas that I won't ever use. Lunch seems like it's absolute eons away, so I shut my eyes and just tune everything out. 

~~

"So how was your summer? I barely saw you man, fucking typical I came back from Japan just as you were leaving to Hawaii. Meet any hula dancing babes?" He does a ridiculous little dance as we walk down the hall to the lunch room, shaking his hips in what I assume is meant to be an impression of the hula. I chuckle.

"Nah man, I was just seeing family and stuff. It was alright, the beach was the best thing fuck the beaches there are incredible. And the heat. Someday we should go to Hawaii, I gotta show you all the best surfing spots." 

"Dude! Yeah that would be sick, lets do it, at the end of this year when we graduate, yeah? Well, if we graduate." He laughs heartily. He acts like an asshole around a lot of people, but over the years we've kinda broken down each others barriers, and we're probably more comfortable with each other than we are with anyone else.

We reach the lunch hall, get whatever's on today, it's shitty pizza. But hey, I guess pizza's pizza. Better than soggy fucking noodles or overcooked burgers. We go to our table, in the corner by the two big windows overlooking the forest that's right next to the school. Marshall loves the forest, he has a thing about it. Anywhere cold or damp, gloomy, and he's there. Typical little emo kid. Well, I say little, but he's nearly as tall as me. And I'm pretty tall.

We sit down, him across from me and my back facing the room. Sometimes we sit with another group, some dude everyone calls lsp, and a few others who I only vaguely remember. It seems like it's been a long summer. I take a few bites of my pizza, and look at Marshall, because he's being very uncharacteristically quiet. He looks like he's deep in thought, staring at something behind me. I turn around, and see he's staring at the table where what I can only describe as the popular kids sit. That dude Gumball who only wears pinks and pastel colours, Cake with her big afro, a load of others who I don't know by name, but specifically his eyes seem to be on Fionna. 

I turn back around and look at him questioningly, to see a broad smile splitting open his face. A devious sort of smile, which has to mean he has some sort of insane plan hatching in his brain. I can tell he's dying for me to ask, so I sigh, and say vaguely reluctantly "What's on your mind then?"

His smile somehow grows wider, and he says 'Kai, I've got the best idea of how to make this year a hell of a lot more interesting." I raise my eyebrows at him, sceptical already. "Oh c'mon don't look like that, this one's a good one, and I think you're gonna like it." If my eyebrows could get any higher, they would be very high up right now. I'm talking like touching my hairline. Marsh's face falls slightly for the first time since we've started this conversation, and he says a little moodily "Do you wanna fucking hear it or not?" I just nod and look at him expectantly, preparing for the worst.

"Right, so I'm assuming you know the lovely Fionna, right? The most popular of the popular cool kiddies?" He pauses until I nod. He always is one for building up suspense. "Well, I'm thinking we should fuck around with her and her, uh, posse. You know, hook up with a few of them, have some fun, if you catch my drift." He winks at me. "Just some harmless fun. And in the process, we'll tear apart their stupid little set up they've got going on. Aren't you sick of them ruling the school? It's fucking ridiculous man. And hey, like I said, it'll be some fun for us, in a lot of ways."

I can't help thinking this is a bad idea. I mean, don't get me wrong, it does annoy me how the popular crowd seem to get everything handed to them. Their lives are so fucking easy, and how is that fair? turn to look at Fionna again. I admit, she is attractive. She isn't conventionally attractive I guess, she's kinda small, pretty curvy, but she has a nice face, pretty hair. And personally, I'm into curves. I can see myself with her, so to be honest, amazingly, this plan isn't starting to sound as bad as I initially thought. 

I look back to Marshall again, and it's like he knows he has me. "Couldn't this end badly though?" I say, yeah sort of half heartedly, so sue me. He just smirks.

"Fuck off man, like it really matters anyway, right? It's our last year, and honestly, who gives a shit if they get hurt. They'll bounce back. That's what people do. And it would probably do them good to get a bit of reality." 

I stop and think about it. Eh, why not right? "Yeah sure, lets do it." And just like that, the grin's back.

"Fucking sweet."


	2. Jello Shots Are Bad News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marshall's an asshole, and Kai cares more than he full realises. TRIGGER WARNING there's non con in this, so if you're not into reading anything like that (which is understandable) then skip this chapter. i don't particularly like writing non con, but it's kinda essential to the story, and hey i guess thats life, sometimes bad shit just happens

Fionna's right in front of me, but she's grinding up against Marshall Lee. Her already short blue skirt riding up. The music's so loud, and pretty much everyone here has had too much to drink. Marshall's hands are on Fionna's hips, bringing her closer to him. She looks pretty out of it. Eyes blown out, I'm not sure if she even knows who she's dancing with. But she moves her hips with his hands, so I guess she doesn't care. It makes me feel like I'm gonna throw up. But I don't want to leave her alone with him. 

This is ridiculous, I don’t even know her. But I do know Marshall. I know what he can be like, I've seen him with girls before, and with boys before. Usually I kinda try and look the other way. After all, he's my best friend, and it's none of my business what he does. But for some reason this time its different. I can't work out why. I mean, I'm not a bad guy. I know it isn't right to take advantage of girls. But this is more than that. Ugh fuck this, I need another shot.

I make my way over to the makeshift bar someone set up in the house, the one close to the area where everyone's dancing, so I can still keep an eye on Marshall and Fionna. They're full on grinding now, her ass pressed right up against his crotch, but it's not as bad as what some other people are doing. Fucking shameless. I pour myself a shot of clear stuff that's probably vodka but at this point I don’t care, as long as it's alcohol, and down it. Then I fill a bigger cup about halfway before adding some coke and taking a big gulp of that. I'm pretty fuzzy around the edges now. I turn around to see Marshall leading Fionna away from the crowd and upstairs. Well shit. I fight the urge to follow and punch the smug grin off his face. I should have known this would happen. 

I don't want to deal with this. I dredge up something in the back of my head about that dude LSP having weed, so I make that my new goal for the night. Get so high that I can't feel my face, let alone think about all this bullshit.

The music is so obnoxiously loud I can barely walk straight, even when I get away from the grinding masses practically fucking each other by the speakers. I'm all for openness about sex, sure, but I don’t appreciate it being shoved in my face, you know? But anyway yeah, I find the guy, wispy facial hair, wearing one of the billions of purple shirts that seem to be the only colour he wears. He greets me pretty amicably, even if the only way to communicate is to yell."Heeeeey man how goes it?" 

"Not bad thanks. Yourself?"

"Yeeaaahhh man, I'm doing pretty good. Fuckin hungry though, I think someone ate all my lumpin brownies." He's obviously stoned out of his mind already, his eyes are ridiculously glassy and unfocused. I don’t have time for this.

"Hey you got any weed?" At this point just fuck subtlety. 

"Oh suure man, here, on the fuckin house, because this is mah house, hahahaha get it?" He laughs uproariously, before digging around in his pocket and handing me a spliff. I take it from him, giving what I hope is a genuine looking smile. He holds out his hand and I clasp it in mine and we do that kinda lame bro hug thing. 

Then I push my way through the throng of people until I'm outside on the basically empty porch and down the steps. There's a big tree in the garden, and its so much quieter out here. I drop down on the grass, fish around in my pocket for the zippo lighter I always have on me. I love lighters, I have this thing about fire. I can't explain it, it just draws me in. I light the spliff, inhale deeply, hold, exhale. And just like that, everything's okay. The sky looks incredible. So many stars. Everything's okay. 

~ Fionna's pov~

I can't breathe. It's too hot there are too many people. There are large hands on my waist. I don't know whose they are. Name with an M? I think he told me before when he was playing with my hair while he poured my a drink but it's so loud and there are too many jello shots in my blood. Hahahah jello shots for blood that’s gross. 

My skirt is too high up but there are too many people around to get my hands down to pull it down, and then that's out of my mind, because the hands are pulling me closer, too close. I look up and there are so many lights I can't focus my hair is sticking to my face. And then somehow the hands are pulling me even closer and its too rough oh glob I can't see straight where's Gumball I don’t know oh I don’t know.

This goes on for a long time. Or it seems like a long time. And then his hands move and I feel scared but he just grabs my hands and yells something about going upstairs and I think I nod because I want to be away from all these people all this, he's pulling me away. And then I can breathe better and I have space there's so much space. 

But we don't stop there no we carry on and I stumble up the stairs behind him his hand still in mine he's so cold how can he be cold? And he leads me into a dark bedroom oh no oh no I can't. His hands move to cup my face and he closes in on me until all I can see is him and then his lips are on mine and it's okay I guess. It's not really enjoyable, but it's not too terrible. But then his hands are moving down down and no he touches my boobs and I whisper no but he just says "C'mon baby it's okay," as he traces down my sides but it's not okay and his hands are up my shirt and then he moves his other hand down and it forces into my underwear and he's unzipping his jeans and NO. I push him away and run out of the room and down the hall and out of here. I run and I run down the street. I don't know where I'm going. So I stop, and I sit on the pavement, and then I taste salt I feel the tears on my cheeks that I didn’t even know I was crying. 

 

~~

I'm rudely awoken by the vibrating of my phone under my pillow. I scramble to find it to turn it the fuck off, but then I see it's Marshall. I don't really want to talk to him. But I know if I just ignore him he'll keep calling. So I roll onto my back, rub at my face and answer his call. 

"Hey man where the fuck did you go last night? Nevermind look I got shit to tell you, I'm coming over." He doesn't even wait for any kind of reply from me before he hangs up. I heave myself up out of bed, running my fingers through the long-ish tuft of hair that runs down the middle of my head. The sides are growing out a little bit, I should shave them again soon. It's a lot of work keeping this hairstyle, but I fucking love it. 

My body is aching a bit, I really want to go for a long run, but Marshall's on his way over already so I guess it can wait. I find a relatively clean pair of shorts and a black t shirt and throw it on, and make my way to the kitchen to get something to eat. Mum's never home, she's a doctor and she's pretty much always on call. She's home maybe like 5ish hours a week I'd say. If that. But I'm good at being on my own and looking after myself by now so it's all good. 

There's a banging on the door just as I'm taking my first bite out of an apple. I sigh, and trudge my way over to the front door. There's no sign of Marshall. I look round and he jumps out from behind a big plant pot and yells "ARGH!" Of course I jump out of my fucking skin.

"Marshall for fucksake you piece of shit," I say, clutching my chest and laughing, despite my anger with him for last night. He just grins smugly at me.

"Yesss fuckin got you man!" He swooshes his hair out of his eyes, and I see he's got even more eyeliner on than usual. I just shake my head at him and rub my hand over my face. "You look rough mate, you never answered me before, where did you go last night?"

"Eh, not a lot, scored some free weed from that LSP guy, laid outside on the grass under that big ass tree getting high. Don't remember how I got home." 

"Fucking lame man." Marshall frowns at me.

"You say fuck way too much, you know that?" He just grins at me again.

"Fuck you Kai. Anyway aren't you gonna ask me what I got up to?" He wiggles his eyebrows at me. I just turn around and lead the way into the house. If I'm gonna have to sit and listen to this I wanna at least sit down. I collapse on the sofa, feel something hard under my ass, fish out my old red gameboy I recently rediscovered. Sweet. Now I can play pokemon while he tells me whatever he's gonna tell me. My apple rolls of the sofa, forgotten. 

"Hey man what the fuck are you really gonna play your stupid fucking game while I tell you about what a shitty night I had?"

I look up at him from the screen, eyebrows raised. "Shitty? What happened?" 

"Well, I was dancing with Fionna, right?" I flick my eyes back down to my screen. I can't look at his face. He still carries on talking though. "I got her a few drinks, you know those jello shots girls like, and then we were dancing, fuckin grinding up on each other, and yeah it was good man, it was good she was into it. And then I took her upstairs, you know, getting my game on, and she just up and leaves halfway through just as it was getting good. Fucking bullshit. What a cock tease. I mean did you see her skirt?"

"You're a real asshole, you know that?" 

"Hey come on, I wasn't doing anything to hurt her, I'm not into that. It wasn't like that." I can hear the frown in his voice. "I'm serious though. Her skirt? Barely covered her fucking ass."

"Who cares man, she can wear what she wants, doesn't mean she's gonna have sex with any old slimy douchebag who comes on to her." I try and hold back how angry I am. Because like, what good would it do?

"Ugh whatever man, you don't get it. You're such a fucking pussy sometimes." He thuds his head back against the back of the sofa in a huff. I know he's gonna be in a bad mood for the rest of the day, so I sigh and pause my game.

"You wanna play skyrim on my laptop?" I never let him play skyrim on my laptop, because he always fucks up my game, but if it makes him more bearable then hey whatever, I can start a new game. His eyes widen and the grin is back again.

"Fuck yeah dude!" I chuck my gameboy over my shoulder and head to my room to dig out my laptop. When I find it tangled up in my bed sheets I head back to where he's sitting and drop it in his lap, hoping he doesn't try and fight any dragons. I also can't help hoping Fionna's doing okay. At least she got away before Marshall really did anything. That took guts. Good for her. Fuck I hope she's alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i hope this was okay, and that Fionna's part wasn't too upsetting/confusing. i wanted to make it as realistic as possible, so her thoughts are a bit all over the place. i did draw on my own past experiences for her part, so i think it is honest, and i feel like that's important. i promise i'll do my best to make the next chapter a bit lighter.  
> also, disclaimer, i feel like i should add that Marshall isn't a completely bad evil person. he just doesn't fully realise the consequences of his actions. not that i'm defending what he did, because it is awful, and there is no excuse for that kind of behaviour. none of this 'boys will be boys' bullshit, everyone needs to take responsibility for the things they do, and boys aren't exempt from that. but okay i'm done now again i hope this was okay


	3. In Too Deep

After the weekend I look for Fionna all day at school, but I don’t see her at all until lunch. She's sitting with her usual crowd, laughing, looking completely normal and fine. I find myself breathing a sigh of relief, which is ridiculous. I mean I don’t even know her at all. And I don’t really even know if she actually is alright. But I guess just seeing her appearing so, normal, puts my mind at ease a little. 

I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Marshall Lee being his usual obnoxious self, waving a hand in front of my face. "Earth to fucking Kai, where you at man? You've been totally out of it today. You get some dodgy LSD off LSP or some shit?" He smirks at his stupid joke. Then he looks vaguely confused, losing focus. "Why do they even call him that anyways…" He just shakes his head, noisily sucking the red from a spoonful of his near luminous strawberry jello. "So, you gonna answer me man? What's up?"

"Eh nothing it's all cool, just been kinda…spaced out, I guess." I leave it at that. I don’t even know what's going on in my own head so no way am I gonna tell Marshall. Don't get me wrong, he is my best friend, but that means I know him better than anyone else and I know what to trust him with and what not to trust him with by now. 

"Hm, well, alright then. So d'you hear about how Cake that popular chick hooked up with James from the dumbass theatre club?" Marshall is a total sucker for gossip. Usually I can't be bothered with it, but this time I humour him.

"What the fuck. Really? At the party?" It's just enough, and it has the effect I want. Marshall's face breaks out in this massive shit-eating grin, pointed teeth almost piercing into his lips. 

"Nah man, get this. They fucked in his fucking dad's bed when he was at the hospital. And it gets even fucking better…" He goes on and on with this ridiculous story that just can't be true, and I half pay attention and make bemused noises to keep him happy. I glance at Fionna again, and I have to fight to keep from starting backwards, because her eyes are already on mine. I flick my eyes over to Marshall quickly to see if he's noticed, but he's too engrossed in telling his story that he has no idea about anything that's going on around him, so I flick my eyes back to her. And just like that, I've lost her. She's leaning on Gumball's arm, smiling at something Cake is saying. Fuck I wish I could see inside her mind. Wish I knew what she was thinking. 

"Kai you dickwad are you even fucking listening at all?" Marshall gives me a shove and I nearly fall off the bench.

"Yeah yeah I am, keep going go on what happened next?" He sits back again, apparently satisfied, and gets back into the story. After a few more minutes I look back over at Fionna again, but the table's empty. Except there's a notebook. Her notebook. And it doesn’t look like she's coming back for it.

~~

"Right, I'm going to weight training class. I'll catch you later man, alright?" I catch Marshall's hand and we do that kinda half hug thing guys do. I don't know why we do it honestly, I guess we're not gonna just shake hands like old men, and we definitely aren't gonna hug like girls, so what else is there? Anyways, Marshall gives me a grin and makes his way down the corridor. Guess he's skipping his last class. 

I whirl round and search the mass of students for Fionna. I have to find her. I don't even know where her locker is. Why the fuck is this place so fucking big ugh fuck. I saunter down the corridor, searching for her face. And then completely by chance I catch a glimpse of a blonde messy ponytail. And a white hat with floppy ears. And a pair of blue shoulders and a super fucking great- okay no I'm not gonna go there nope. I make my way towards her, trying to figure out what I'm even going to say. I really should have planned this a lot better. And then I'm in front of her and she turns to face me. 

"Hey, uh, I think- I think this is yours?" Wow, great. She's definitely not gonna be able to resist you with those smooth talking skills. Jesus. 

"Oh yeah, thanks." She smiles at me, this small smile, and fuck me she has dimples and freckles and oh god I could watch her face for hours and hours. Her eyelashes are so thick and long and her eyes are literally the same blue as the sky how is that possible it's like she has little circles of the actual sky for irises. Then I realise I'm staring and neither of us are talking.

"Oh um no worries that's cool. I'm uh- I'm Kai." She's still smiling, slightly bigger now, I can see her teeth and they're slightly crooked and they somehow add to her whole look in this way I can't explain.

"I'm Fionna. I think I know a friend of yours. Marshall Lee? Sorry but, not sure I'm that impressed with your taste in friends." Well fuck.

"Shit, yeah, I'm so sorry about him. He didn't…he didn't hurt you, did he? Don't worry he didn't tell me exactly what happened, but uh, I know what he can be like." Her smile has faded slightly, and I feel so guilty, and honestly I'd do anything to have that smile back.

"It's okay. It happens. Don't worry about it." She turns around to put her notebook in her bag, and I see she has a badge on her bag, a the cure badge. No fucking way.

"Wait, you like the cure?" She turns around to face me again, eyes all lit up like a christmas tree. 

"Are you joking? I fucking love the cure, the forest is a masterpiece. And close to me is just, super special." Holy shit. Okay no calm down, gotta keep it at least kinda cool.

"That's so rad, you've uh, you've got really great taste in music." Wow, so inventive. She just smiles, then her face changes as she catches a glimpse of what I assume is a clock behind me.

"Oh man I've gotta go my brother's gonna be here to pick me up now for my fencing lessons, I'll see you around okay?" She goes to leave, and I feel my shoulders slumping slightly, when she stops and comes back again. "Hey, you got a pen?" 

I dig around in my pocket, and lo and behold I actually do have a pen. She grins at me, grabs the pen and one of my hands, and writes down a number. "Call me sometime, yeah?" Then she leans in close, and whispers "I saw you looking at me. At the party. And, just so you know, I was doing some looking of my own." Her face is so close to mine, and fuck she's biting her lip. And then she's off, running down the corridor, and honestly, I'm feeling kinda like I'm going to be smiling for at least the next two hours or so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always sorry this took so long, my writing is kinda on and off... but i really really hope you like this chapter, and really thank you so so so much for reading i do appreciate it more than i can even tell you :))


	4. Unicorns and Vampire Rabbits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marshall is off his face in the middle of the night, so Kai has to go get him, along with someone else

"Heey babe, where you at?" Marshall Lee purrs through the phone at me after I pick it up at 3am on a Tuesday. At least, I think it's Tuesday. 

"Wha' the fuck man I'm at home sleeping, where the fuck are you?" I growl at him blearily, rubbing at my face. 

"Weelll, that's for me to know, and you to find out," he laughs hysterically, as if he's said something completely hilarious. I heave a big sigh. He's high, he must be. He always calls me babe when he's high. But still, I ask him anyway.

"You high man? Are you alright?" I hear him scoff from the other end of the phone.

"HAH I'm fine man yeah I'm high, I'm super high, I got some crazy shiiieeet off LSP, so good. I swear earlier, right, get this, listen to this listen to me, I saw a fucking unicorn in the pool. In. The. Mother fucking. Pool. A UNICORN. Like, holy shit, I ain't never seen fucking unicorns. That's some mythical magical fucking shit right there." He stops for a second to draw breath, or to drink, or something. I just wait for him to carry on. I know from experience he gets very chatty when he's on something.

"Also I saw all these white rabbits, just hopping round. And they were the ones with the red eyes, why do they have red eyes man, that's just weird. Hey if I was a rabbit though I'd wanna have red eyes though because that's just badass like yeah man I want in on that. Imagine that, a vampire rabbit." He laughs some more. Yeah that's another thing, he finds himself even more hilarious than usual when he's high. 

"Okay Marshall listen to me for one sec, can you tell me where you are?" I'd better go find him and bring him home, before he causes something or someone serious damage. Marshall's a bit of a fighter, and he's good at it, so he can be pretty lethal if you piss him off. Which doesn’t take much at the best of times, but when he's high… I hear him sniggering. 

"Why do you wanna know?" Then he stops and gasps in this way that makes my blood run cold. My pulse practically hits the fucking roof. 

"What is it Marshall what happened?" Fuck I hope he doesn't beat anyone up oh my glob.

"Aaaahh baaabe I know why you wanna know where I am, I got you all figured out. You want in on the drugs? And the babes?" Fucking hell, phew. My heart rate slows back down again. Marshall's still talking though. "There are plenty of chicks to go around you can come get some if you want yeah come get some!" He sounds like an excited little kid. I groan and roll out of bed, trying to find a shirt or something on the floor. "We're at Ghost Prince's house, near the graveyard, I forget what the street is do you know what the street is I don’t know what the street is."

"Yeah alright man don't sweat it, I know it, I'll be there soon." I tell him, still rummaging round for something that feels vaguely like something I can wear on my upper half.

"Woooo fuck yeah babe, see you- wait what th-" The line cuts off. I stop. What the fuck. Screw the shirt, I sprint out of my room to my car to go make sure Marshall's okay. Because he may be an asshole, but he's my best friend.

~~

I shove my foot down on the break, turn the engine off, then I fling myself out of the car and to the window of Ghost Prince's house to see if I can see anyone inside. I think I see LSP and a few others crashed out on the sofas and the floor, but no Marshall Lee. I charge round to the back of the house, seeing as he mentioned a pool earlier I thought maybe he's still near a pool. And yep there he is, sprawled out on a stripy fucking deck chair, grinning away as he watches some blonde chick give a random dude a lap dance. Wait. That's not just some chick. That's fucking Fionna. I don't believe this. He's really leering at her, staring at her boobs, obviously not caring abut the state she's in. Suddenly Marshall bursts out with "Omglob look you guys the unicorn came back!" and that's it, that's enough. 

I grab Marshall Lee and pull him up out of the deck chair. "Hey man what the actual fuck do you think you're fucking do- ooohh hey babe it's you! I missed you man!" He tackles me with a massive hug and I pat him weakly on the back as he spouts more shit about the unicorn. I'm not paying attention, too busy watching Fionna grinding on this dick. I'm starting to see red. I don't register what Marshall says as I push him away and storm over to where they're practically dry humping. 

"Fionna, what the fuck are you doing with this dick?" My voice is trembling because of how mad I am, and it's taking every inch of my self control not to completely lose it. And she doesn't even look at me.

"'M doin wha'ever th' fuck I wanna do, okay?" She's slurring very heavily, apparently only barely aware of her surroundings, swaying around all over the place. So I pull her away from the asshole, who isn't too happy about getting his toy taken away from him.

"Oi stay outta this man this ain't your fucking business, who the fuck even are you, fucking coming in here like yo-" He doesn't get any further because I punch him right in the middle of his face, and I feel his nose crunch under my knuckles. And it's the most satisfying feeling I've felt in a long time. 

"Don't take advantage of people when they're off their face, you cunt. Not cool. Get some fucking brain cells man." I address him as he lies moaning on the floor, trying to staunch the blood pouring from his face. Fionna's clinging to my arm like it's some sort of lifeline, gazing up at me with these glazed over eyes, and Marshall is just full on staring at me like I'm batman or something. "What?" They both avert their eyes sharpish, Fionna staring at the ground and Marshall fiddling with his hair, suddenly very interested in how it looks. I sigh, run a hand through my own hair that's still sticking up all over the place from sleep. "Right, lets get you two home."

Fionna puts her arm around my waist, still clutching my arm with her free hand, and Marshall drapes his arm around my shoulders to keep himself more stable. Neither of them can walk in a straight line, so I've got my work cut out for me getting them back to my car. But we get there, Marshall crashed out in the back and Fionna in front next to me, mainly because she still won't let go of me. Now it's my hand, seeing as it's a little tricky to hold on to my arm while I drive. I had to carry her in and lift her over the console because she wouldn't loosen her grip on my arm. 

I glance over at her now and again while I drive to Marshall's house, because it's closest. She just looks straight ahead. It's silent, apart from the occasional snore from Marshall behind us. I'm just swallowing, preparing to say something, when I hear, "Wh-why didn't you call me?" Her voice sounds so small, quiet and still slightly slurred. "It's been a week. Did you forget 'bout me?"

"No, no of course I didn't. It's not that. It's just-" I'm lost, I don't know what to say. Honestly, I'm not even sure why I didn't call her. I clench my fingers around the steering wheel. "I guess, you make me nervous."

"You shouldn't. Be nervous, that is. Cause I'm not special or anythin, m' jus a person, y' know? M' jus a person…" She trails off, her eyes closing and opening and closing, slowly, sleepily. I sigh, for what feels like the billionth time tonight.

"You're not just a person Fi, you're so much more…" But she's fast asleep, side of her head leaning against the back of the seat, and she's still clinging on to my hand. 

I stop in front of Marshall Lee's house, and I'm surprised when I turn around and he's already sitting upright, awake. "So, Fionna, huh?" he says to me, raising his eyebrows. 

I shrug a shoulder at him, as if to say yeah, so sue me. 

"Well, alright man, just watch out, alright? Girl like that could fuck you up, s'all I'm sayin. Right, I'mma go sleep for about 15 hours. Thanks for, you know." He pauses, "getting me outta there. You're a good friend bro. Catch you later," he grins at me before adding, "babe." and slipping out the door. I can't help smiling as I roll my eyes and put the car into drive again. I haven't got a clue where the fuck Fionna lives, so I decide to just take her back to mine. I mean, I can sleep on the floor. For once I'm relieved that I barely use my wardrobe or draws and mainly store my clothes on the floor. 

We get to mine, and I lift Fionna up over the console again, carrying her up to my front door. Mum won't be home for ages, she just left for her shift at the hospital tonight, or I guess yesterday evening. Fuck, being up at this time fucks with my head. Somehow I manage to get the key in door and shove it open with one hand, and then I bring Fionna into my room where I set her down on my bed gently, doing my best not to wake her. She only stirs slightly, finally letting go off my hand and curling herself up small. I pull the covers up over her and get settled on the floor. 

Eventually my body relaxes enough to start falling asleep, and the last thing I hear is Fi murmuring something about unicorns, and something else that sounds suspiciously like my own name, but maybe by that point I was already sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i literally got the idea for this chapter as i was writing it so sorry if its bad idek i hope it was at least kinda amusing, and thank you so so much if you got this far you're a lovely human being and i appreciate you very much


	5. Pancakes and Not So Opposite Tastes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so Kai wakes up with Fionna in his house, dancing and making pancakes. she introduces him to a whole new world of music, they kinda bond, little bit of a hint of angst near the end, yeah that's it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm trying to update more regularly but i'm not sure how well that's going to go hahaha, but hey i hope you like this chapter! the next one should be, uh, exciting, shall we say
> 
> also hey hey there's music for this chapter here you go <3
> 
> (the song Fionna is dancing to when Kai first comes in) Datsik - Hold It Down (ft. Georgia Murray) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFpLlklee24  
> Calvin Harris & Alesso - Under Control (BARE Trap Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfbAr_M81cI  
> Porter Robinson - Language https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LILChvqUo4  
> Blue Foundation - Eyes On Fire (Zeds Dead Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUGzY-ihqWc

I wake up to someone tugging on my hair. "How do you even get your hair to stay this colour?" I open my eyes to see Fionna above me, her face inches away from mine, strands of my bright orange hair in her fingers. Well, she's definitely not backwards in coming forward, I'll give her that. I close my eyes again sharpish because of how too bright the world is. 

"Dedication. Also a bit of dye in the conditioner I use helps." I hear a giggle. Then I hear the gentle pad of bare feet on the wood floor as she walks away.

"You want pancakes? I made pancakes." she calls from down the hallway. Wow, I picked the right girl to rescue evidently. I open my eyes and keep them open, and Fionna's head is poking round the door frame. She's not wearing her usual white hat, and her hair falls in gentle waves around her shoulders. Then she disappears again, gone in a quick flash of pale skin and wild hair. I can hear music. it sounds like some kinda electronic techno shit. Must be Fionna's stuff? It's definitely nothing of mine, I'm more into Parkway Drive, Acacia Strain, Marilyn Manson, some of Bring Me The Horizon's older stuff is cool. Dance-y stuff isn't my thing. Not at all. 

I begrudgingly pull myself out of bed, the thought of food my main motivator, not bothering to pull on a shirt. Whatever right? I mean this is my house after all. I stumble through to the kitchen, my head aching dully, where I find Fionna dancing. Her curvy little body writhing and grinding. Full on dancing, hips moving, arms above her head to the loud repetitive beat of the song she's put on. I look over and see a small white ipod in my dock, my own clunky black one lying on the table. I lean against the door for a bit, watching her dance. She's so lost in it. She looks so happy, so alive. I'm realising that I actually don't mind the song. The best of it is very infectious, I can feel it reverberating deep in my chest, like somehow it's linked to my own heartbeat, like I'm one with the music. I haven't ever really felt that before. I've been to plenty of rock concerts, and I love them, but this is- this is different. 

I shake my head, trying to shake off the feeling. "What the fuck is this?" I ask, laughing as Fionna jumps out of her skin, nearly knocking over the pot of coffee from the machine.

"Jesus fuck, you scared the shit out of me dude! I thought you'd never get out of that bed, I woke up hours ago." She shoots me a playful glare, before turning back to check on the pancakes that are cooking in the frying pan, flipping them over carefully. 

"I see you've made yourself at home." I state, eyebrows raised at her as I move to sit across from her, grabbing a glass of juice that's half full, so I assume it's hers.

"Yeah, your music taste is, um, different." Her hips are still swaying steadily to the beat. Honestly I don’t know how she's keeping it up, it looks exhausting. And she was wasted out of her mind last night, is this fucking girl even real? Her hair swings as she moves, falling down to her waist, all golden and shiny. I've not seen it before, most of it is always hidden under her hat. 

"Hey fuck off, it's better than this." A new song is playing, or maybe it's the same one I really don't know, and the music is building up and up to this peak. She stops looking after the pancakes and full on starts dancing again, raising her hands up and up, until the song drops and with it she drops her hands too, this massive grin on her face as she moves her body. It's mesmerising. I can't stop staring at her. She sees me looking and I tear my eyes away, but not before I see her smirking.

"Here, you can have these ones too." She tips the finished pancakes onto a plate in front of me, adding to the already pretty formidable pile, nicking one from the bottom to nibble on while she sticks the frying pan in the sink along with some fairy liquid, letting the warm water run over it. I bite into the pancake, and it's so soft and fluffy and wow.

"You should come over more often holy balls," I say through a mouthful of pancake, shovelling more in. Fionna just laughs, grabbing a knife to spread some butter on her own half eaten pancake. This next song that's playing is slightly slower, more mellow than the other ones have been. Something about sweet nothing? And the drop is more subtle, but it sounds pretty fucking rad. Fionna's moving her hips again, hands reaching out, throwing her chest out, hands in her hair, mouthing along to the words. 

"I love this one, it might be one of my favourites. Some trap is so awesome sounding." 

"Trap?" 

"It's the genre of this song, EDM has tons of sub-genres."

"Uh, EDM?" I'm feeling very clueless in the face of all this. I know my metal, and my rock, and quite a bit of alternative. And that’s about where my knowledge runs out. Pop music flummoxes me. Rap is too confusing and just completely out of my comfort zone. What else is there? I don’t even know. I know what I like, that's what matters. The song has slowed right down, and so has Fionna. It's almost like she's in slow motion. She seems to deflate. And then it's over. Her attention flicks back to me.

"EDM. Electronic dance music. You know, like raves and stuff? Glow sticks? Furious dancing to music so loud it feels like you're one massive togetherness, one living breathing being. It's magical, fucking magical."

Seeing her talk about it, it draws me in. I want to feel what she feels when she hears this music. Or just, be there, watching her as she experiences it. Watching it flow through her. Seeing her dance is just, something different to anything I've seen or experienced before. 

I'm lost in thought when I see a pale little hand waving in front of my face. "Earth to Kai? So did you wanna come with me?"

"Wait, where?" I'm lost, very lost. She just laughs at what must be the bewildered expression on my face.

"To a rave, you silly! There's one tonight, if you'd wanna go? I mean we already missed most of school today, so we have all day to get you some stuff. Because you have to wear the right stuff, and I'll need to educate you on some music because otherwise you'll be super clueless. Are you done with your pancakes?" I've just finished the last one, or at least, it's in my mouth. She doesn't wait for an answer, taking my plate over to the sink to sit with the pan. This girl doesn't stop. Then she takes me by the hand and tugs me over to where the my ipod dock sits on the little table in the open plan kitchen/living room. 

We sit down on the floor, and I notice she's wearing one of my shirts, and a tiny pair or shorts. I assume the ones she was wearing last night? It makes something inside my chest squeeze seeing her in my clothes. How did I not notice that until now? Guess I was too mesmerised by her dancing. She's still clutching my hand, leaning forward to scroll through her music. 

"Alright hey listen to this, let me know what you think?" she clicks on a song. There's this rough beat, echoing out, and then it goes quiet, and a man's voice sings.

[I might be anyone  
A lone fool out in the sun  
Your heartbeat of solid gold  
I love you, you'll never know]

The beat in the background, it draws me in somehow. It's fast, it makes me want to move. There's this small build. And then it changes, gets slower, more drawn out but still somehow fast paced? It's just, it's pulling me under. Fading out, his voice is back, repeating the words again, the beat softer this time. 

[When the daylight comes you feel so cold,  
You know  
I'm too afraid of my heart to let you go]

It's building up and up, and Fionna is dancing as she's sitting, her hands above her head twirling and whirling around. 

[Waiting for the fire to light  
Feeling like we could do right  
Be the one that makes tonight  
'Cause freedom is a lonely road  
We're under control]

And then it drops again, and she bends down from where she's sitting ,writhing, moving to it, with it. The man's voice dissipates, and it's just this beat. This thumping, grinding beat. On and on, and the bass is so rad. I feel it so deeply, through me. And then it's over.

Fionna looks at me, expectantly, and I look back at her. "That was- pretty sick, actually."

She looks so over the moon, her face lights up completely, "Yeessss! Okay what about…ooh this one! Now this one's a bit more, heavy, I guess you could say?" I raise my eyebrows at her.

"Fi, I listen to metal. Fuck off." She gives me a shove and puts the song on. 

This song hasn't got as many lyrics. It’s mainly just tones and chimes, and that beat. Dipping and jumping, spiralling my head round and around. I love the part where it suddenly drops down and stutters, it gets this grimy edge to it, scraping roughly, before going back to the smoothness of the rhythm. Then it gets softer, and a voice comes in

[Give me release  
Let the waves of time and space surround me, yeah  
Cause I need room to breathe  
Let me float back to the place you found me 

I'll be okay]

It picks up, the rhythm building back to what it was. And then it's finished. "I liked that one too, especially that part before she started singing."

"Ohh hey that's my favourite part of that song. But I also really like the lyrics. Just, it's so pretty. Porter Robinson is a doll." 

We carry on like this for hours, sitting on the floor, Fi choosing from her seemingly never-ending library of music. We talk only when the music stops, wanting to appreciate and listen properly to everything. Also I like concentrating on her, just watching her get so involved makes me feel more part of it too somehow. I'm getting pretty excited for this rave. 

"That one was so rad, it reminded me of a video game or something." I say, after the song finishes, of course. "And I kinda liked the guitar in the background."

"Hey that's super good. Right we should probably start getting ready we've been sitting here for ages dude." She gets up, somehow incredibly gracefully, while I pull myself to my feet, legs sprawling out as I do so. Fionna giggles at my obvious lack of coordination. I just roll my eyes at her, grinning. 

"So what the fuck does one wear to a rave anyway?" I ask, running my fingers through my hair. It's hanging pretty limp because I haven't done anything to it. Usually I put some gel or whatever in it to make it stand up at least a little bit, because I mean, there's nothing worse than a flat mohican. 

"Right well lets have a look at your wardrobe, see what you got hiding in there. Tell me now if there are any skeletons, or actually, any other bodies in various states of decomposing." She turns back, sticks her tongue out at me, before taking my hand again and pulling me through the house to my room. She's like a little fucking whirlwind I swear. 

"Oh hey who knew! You can wear these," she pulls out a pair of black jeans with stripes of reflective tape down the sides that my mum made me wear when I had to do community service picking up rubbish that one time. "You don't even need a shirt, just go without one, you've got a pretty, uh- yeah you know what I mean." she blushes very faintly, looks me up and down and bites her lip, turning away. Fuck. I'm so fucked. I can't believe any of this is actually happening.

"Today has been so fucking surreal." I mutter, rubbing at my face. "Is this really what people wear to raves?" I say a little louder. I'm starting to feel a bit dubious about this shit now. Fionna just nods her head yes, absentmindedly looking through the rest of my clothes.

"We'll have to drop into my place so I can get changed. I'm thinking my white skirt, and no idea what top yet. Guess I'll see how I feel. You gotta feel this stuff, you know?" She looks at me, as if expecting an answer.

"I uh, I guess?" 

She grins at me, just about all her teeth showing, before she motions for me to put on the jeans. 

"Can I at least shower first?"

"Ugh, fine. Be quick though, alright?" She flops down on my bed on her back, staring up at the ceiling. I grab a towel off the floor and head to the bathroom. I can't understand how this has happened. Literally, I've practically only just met this girl, and already I'm letting her boss me around and do whatever she wants? How has that happened? I'm not like this with anyone, not even my own mum. I just try and push it away, pull off my boxers and step under the warmth of the water cascading around me. Forget about it, just forget, tonight will be fun, just forget about it. 

By the time I'm done in the bathroom and go back to my room Fionna is sitting on the floor in my room, looking at my books. "You have Alice in Wonderland. I always loved that one when I was little. My dad used to read it to me-" She pauses, smiles down at the page she on, but it isn't her usual smile. And her voice is quieter. Subdued. It makes worry knot in my stomach. She seems so much smaller, so much less. 

"Fi? Are you alright?"

"Wha- yeah, yeah I'm good," She bounces up from where she was sitting, tugging my shirt down with one hand. She smiles at me again, bigger this time, but it's still not in her eyes. I cock my head sideways at her. She won't quite look me in the eye. So I give it up, and hold out my hand to her.

"Come on, lets go to yours and get ready for tonight. You got any glow sticks there, by any chance?" Fionna walks over, still tugging the shirt down, and takes my hand. 

"Yes, yes I most definitely do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so so much for reading, and for the kudos and agh you're all lovely lovely people, hopefully the next one will be up kinda soon, any feedback or comments are always appreciated :))


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